Episode 41: 'Game Changing Incubators' with James Roberts

Our guest today on the Not Mini Adult’s Podcast is Entrepreneur, CEO and start-up founder of mOm Incubators, James Roberts.

James is the inventor of a new neonatal incubator, that has helped premature babies thrive in NHS hospitals and in war-torn Ukraine.  During our conversation he shares some invaluable advice for anyone looking to create an impact start-up, especially in the world of children’s health.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are nearly one million preventable neonatal deaths each year. Keeping the infant warm could save thousands of new-borns each day. However, most incubators are too large, complicated, and expensive for universal use.

The mOm Essential Incubator is a compact, cost-effective machine that has been designed to work in multiple environments. It is being used in a series of pilots in the NHS to ease the need for short-term admission to special care, and to help maintain the core temperature of babies being moved around hospitals.

The Incubator has also been deployed in emerging economies and war zones. Over 75 incubators have been sent to Ukraine, where they are being used to keep babies warm in hospitals and bomb shelters transformed into make-shift neonatal wards.

James and his team have won numerous awards.  The mom prototype caught the attention of the James Dyson Foundation, which in 2014 awarded him the global James Dyson Award for innovation.

In 2018 James was named in MIT’s 35 under 35 and in 2023 he was presented with one of the most prestigious individual awards by the Royal Academy of Engineering – The Princess Royal Silver Medal.

I had the pleasure of inviting James to be a mentor on the recent Child Health Impact Accelerator that I chaired on behalf of Innovate UK and in partnership with Founders Factory.  And having got to know James, this was a story that we just had to share.

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Theme Music - ‘Mountain’
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Copyright Lisa Fitzgibbon 2000
Written & performed by Lisa Fitzgibbon,
Violin Jane Griffiths

Podcast editing - Ora Podcasts

Podcast artwork thanks to - The Podcast Design Experts